Location – In the village of Ardcrony, N of Nenagh on the N52. The tower is attached to the church.
OS: R 896 871 (map 59)
Longitude: 8° 9' 16.88" W
Latitude: 52° 56' 4.78" N
Description and History – Although ruined this tower house is quite nice. It has a particularly unusual feature in that there is a carved human face on one of the corbel supports for a now missing bartizan. The W wall of the tower house has now collapsed but a spiral stairs still survives up the first floor in the NE corner of the tower. A barrel vault survives over the first floor and there is a small room with a barrel vault on the ground floor also. The Civil Survey of 1654-56 describes the castle in ruins. Daniel Hogan (I am assuming he is part of the O’Hogan family who patronised the adjoining church) is listed as the proprietor in 1640. I may have just been seeing shapes in the rocks but I am convinced there is a carved head on the spiral staircase that has been overlooked. It is located just where the stairs end. This is a nice little ruin that is well worth the visit.
Difficulty – The site is in a well kept graveyard so is very easy to get to. Take care if you ascend the steps of the castle. They are small and narrow and not very stable.
For more tower houses, click here.
For more sites in Co. Tipperary, click here.
OS: R 896 871 (map 59)
Longitude: 8° 9' 16.88" W
Latitude: 52° 56' 4.78" N
Description and History – Although ruined this tower house is quite nice. It has a particularly unusual feature in that there is a carved human face on one of the corbel supports for a now missing bartizan. The W wall of the tower house has now collapsed but a spiral stairs still survives up the first floor in the NE corner of the tower. A barrel vault survives over the first floor and there is a small room with a barrel vault on the ground floor also. The Civil Survey of 1654-56 describes the castle in ruins. Daniel Hogan (I am assuming he is part of the O’Hogan family who patronised the adjoining church) is listed as the proprietor in 1640. I may have just been seeing shapes in the rocks but I am convinced there is a carved head on the spiral staircase that has been overlooked. It is located just where the stairs end. This is a nice little ruin that is well worth the visit.
Difficulty – The site is in a well kept graveyard so is very easy to get to. Take care if you ascend the steps of the castle. They are small and narrow and not very stable.
For more tower houses, click here.
For more sites in Co. Tipperary, click here.
View as you enter the graveyard.
The surviving E wall.
The tower from the W.
A close up of the castle interior.
The remaining corbels. Note the carved human face.
Is this a very weathered human face?
